One of the top goal scorers in Galaxy and MLS history, Buddle returned to Southern California when he re-signed with the Galaxy in February 2012 following a year in Germany. Powerful and good with the ball at his feet or when attacking crosses, he helps make the LA attack one of the most dangerous in MLS.

MLS Highlights

2010: Enjoyed his best season in MLS, scoring a career-high 17 goals to finish second in the league while being named the Galaxy MVP for the first time ever. An MLS All-Star for the second time in three years and a member of the MLS Best XI for the first time, Buddle scored each of LA’s first seven goals on the season and nine of their first 10. Despite missing five games while with the U.S. National Team in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Buddle led the team in scoring all season long, scoring nine times in the first six games of the year. He had had four multi-goal games in that time, scoring twice in home wins over Chivas USA(4/1), Real Salt Lake (4/17) and Philadelphia (5/1) as well as a road win at Houston (4/10). He scored in his first game back from the World Cup vs. Seattle on 7/4 and started all 16 regular season games that the Galaxy played after his return. His goal at Chivas USA on 10/3 was the 40th of his Galaxy career, making him the first player in MLS history to score 40 or more goals for two different teams. He added two goals in the postseason, tallying in each leg of the Western Conference Semifinal Series against Seattle for his first playoff goals since 2004. In the MLS regular season and postseason, the Galaxy were 13-1-1 when Buddle scored, compared to 7-7-4 when he did not. In addition to being voted the club’s MVP and being a finalist for the MLS MVP award, Buddle was also selected as the club’s Humanitarian of the Year while also becoming the first player other than Landon Donovan or Carlos Ruiz to finish the season as the team’s top scorer since 2001. 2009: Finished second on the Galaxy in scoring, tallying five goals in 19 games for the club. He missed the first month of the season with a right quad strain, but returned to the field in late April. Buddle scored his first goal of the season late in a 1-1 draw vs. Kansas City on 5/30, and then added the game-winner a week later on 6/6 at Toronto FC, a game LA won 2-1., becoming the 15th player in MLS history to score 70 career regular season goals. After scoring in the Galaxy’s 1-0 friendly win over CS Herediano on 6/9, he added his third league goal of the season on 7/11 at Chivas USA, heading home the only goal in LA’s 1-0 win. Buddle played the 200th regular season game of his career at New York on 7/16, but suffered a right foot sprain a few days later in the friendly with AC Milan on 7/19. That injury forced Buddle to miss seven weeks of play, but he returned on 9/12 vs. FC Dallas to score his fourth goal of the season in a 6-3 loss. He was on the scoresheet again a week later, scoring his fifth and final goal of the season in a 2-0 win vs. Toronto FC on 9/19. In the playoffs, Buddle started all four of the Galaxy’s games, including MLS Cup when he missed LA’s final penalty kick attempt in the deciding shootout. 2008: In his first full season with the Galaxy, Buddle enjoyed his best season in MLS as he finished third in the league with a career-high 15 goals. He was named to the MLS All-Star Team for the first time and entered the game as a second half sub in the 3-2 win over West Ham. Collected a pair of MLS Player of the Week awards after scoring hat tricks at FC Dallas on 5/18 and at San Jose on 6/14. Had 10 goals in a seven game span from 5/18-6/29. The Galaxy were 4-2-1 in that span and were 5-2- 4 on the season when Buddle scored a goal. He added goals in each of the final two legs of the Honda SuperClasico on 7/10 and 8/14 before tallying three more goals in the final two months of the season. 2007: Acquired by the Galaxy in mid-June from Toronto FC, Buddle went on to appear in 16 games for the club, tallying five goals to place second on the club for the season. He made an immediate impact upon joining the Galaxy, scoring in each of his first two games with the club vs. Real Salt Lake (6/17), just 25 minutes into his debut and vs. Columbus (6/23), making him the first Galaxy player since Diego Serna in 2003 to score in each of his first two games with the club. However, a re-emergence of an Achilles injury forced him to the sideline for most of July and early August. He returned in time to score late at New York on 8/18, a goal that tied the score at 4-4 in that game which the Red Bulls went on to win 5-4. Buddle was back on the scoresheet in the 3-1 win vs. Colorado on 9/8, tallying the game-winner in that game, but suffering a hamstring injury in the process, ruling him out for a month. Buddle was back on the field in time for the game vs. Toronto FC on 10/13 when he scored the game-winning goal in the 78th minute to give LA a 2-1 win. That goal also meant that Buddle scored against all three of his former clubs while with the Galaxy. He eclipsed the 10,000 career minutes played mark against Real Salt Lake on 9/1. Buddle also played in three SuperLiga games, two Reserve Division games and one Open Cup match for LA. Prior to joining the Galaxy, Buddle played 481 minutes in 10 games with Toronto FC, recording two assists. 2006: Was acquired by the Red Bulls prior to the start of the season and scored six goals in 28 games, playing a career-high 2,112 minutes during his only year in New York. 2005: Continued his strong form by scoring nine goals and adding two assists for the Crew, giving him 39 goals in four years. 2004: Scored 11 goals to lead the team while also adding a pair of assists as Columbus pulled off the longest unbeaten streak in MLS history at 18 games to win the Supporter’s Shield. He was twice named MLS Player of the Week, including once after scoring four goals in a 4-2 win over New York on 9/18. 2003: Recorded his first double digit goalscoring season, tallying 10 goals and four assists in just 16 starts for the Crew. He also scored four of the Crew’s six goals in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. 2002: Helped the Crew win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in his second season, tallying nine goals and a career-high five assists while beginning to establish himself as one of the top young forwards in MLS. 2001: After one season in the A-League, Buddle joined the Columbus Crew and tallied three goals in 17 appearances as a rookie. Made his MLS debut on 4/7 and scored the first goal of his career three games later at 5/16 at New England.

Career Highlights

2011-12: Joined FC Ingolstadt of the German 2. Bundesliga in January 2011, signing with the club on a free transfer. He scored on his debut for the club against MSV Duisberg and finished the season with three goals, helping Ingolstadt avoid relegation. He remained with the club for the first half of the 2011-12 season, scoring six times in 17 league games. He was released from his contract with the club in January 2012, allowing him to re-sign with the Galaxy. 2000: Buddle appeared in 26 games with Long Island Rough Riders of the A-League, helping them win the Northeast Division Title. His 11 goals and four assists led the team in scoring and allowed him to be named a finalist for the A-League Rookie of the Year award.

College Highlights

Buddle played one season at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Mo., helping lead the school to the 1999 NJCAA National Championship. He scored the title-clinching goal in sudden death overtime of the championship game, giving State Fair a 3-2 victory over Pima Community College.

National Team

Buddle has collected 10 caps with the U.S. National Team, scoring three times for his country. He made his international debut ion 3/29/03, coming on as a second half substitute in a 2-0 win over Venezuela. His next appearance did not come for more than seven years when he was named in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He scored his first two goals for the U.S. less than two weeks later in a 4-2 win over Australia in the final friendly before the start of the World Cup. He played in two of the four games that the U.S. played at the World Cup, coming on in the second half against England and Algeria. He played in four games for the U.S. in 2011, scoring in the 3-2 win in Slovenia on 11/15/11. Buddle also played for the U.S. at the U-18, U-20 and U-23 levels, including a trip to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championships where he scored once in the 4-1 win over Chile.